If you have read till this chapter, please don't forget to like, share and comment. Your gems too would be appreciated.
Kraven’s POV“…Who are you working with?” I asked, my tone low but steady, the weight of suspicion was thick in my voice. The question had clawed its way up from the back of my mind the moment she stepped into my private space with a look I couldn’t quite read. My gut didn’t just twitch—it flared and I knew that something isn't just adding up.“I’m not working with anyone,” she replied quickly.Somehow, her words hit the air flat and lacked the firmness of truth. My eyes narrowed, catching that tiny flicker in hers. I had this feelings that she wasn’t necessarily lying, but she wasn’t telling me everything either.Before I could dig deeper, a soft thud echoed from above us—barely audible, but I didn’t need it any louder. I knew this house like the lines on my palm and I know something felt off about it all.I reached behind my back pocket for the gun I had already put in there the moment I had gotten the report that my basement was pryed.“I knew this would come,” I muttered to myself
Mia's POVHe stepped closer the moment I denied looking for the very thing that had dragged me into this nightmare.“Then what were you looking for?” he asked with his jaw tight and voice edged with something dark and sharp.My heart stuttered. The question cut deeper than I expected. It stripped away the excuses I had rehearsed in my head and left me bare.I looked up at him and tried so hard not to mask the chaos swirling in my chest. My eyes were fierce, but broken at the same time too. “I don’t know. I had this feeling… this pull, like something wasn’t going down well. And again, Selene….she said so many things before she left. Things that made me feel like maybe I’m just another piece in whatever game you’re playing.”He blinked slowly, and I saw the flicker of doubt, of something I couldn’t name, pass through his eyes. I swallowed, my throat dry, managing to keep pushing on before I lost the nerve.“You won’t let me in fully in your life yet, you keep me close, but I feel like I
Kraven’s POVI had slept off from what was supposed to be a nap into a full-time sleep.‘Ridiculous, right?’I’m never that careless with my environment—never that out of it. But lately, I’ve been lowering my guard, and for what? Because of Aria?Not necessarily trust, no. That word doesn't sit right with me. It's more like I let what I feel for her sneak in and take over the side of me that’s supposed to be cold, calculating, and untouchable. That wasn’t like me. But feelings are a damn slippery slope one needs a lot to let it not get to one.And now? I think that I was paying for it.Still half-asleep, the shrill beep of my home security system dragged me back into reality.“Security Breach!!Security Breach!!Zone: Basement.”The basement.My eyes flew open with my body snapping into motion before my mind could fully catch up. No one else should be in this house aside from staff—and they have no business with the basement. No reason to go near it and that could make them lose thei
Mia’s POVThis wasn't the best time to argue with Kraven with regard to the contract marriage he had just brought up, and deep down, I understood that. He had already made it clear that I shouldn’t ask him "why," and if I'm being honest, it wasn't just a demand—it felt like a warning coated in silent urgency. As much as I hated being left in the dark, I chose to let it go… for now.To a fault, I understood that it was all for my own good. This was the headway I needed, a chance to get things rolling, and maybe—just maybe—find my way around the assignment fully. One day was already gone. One out of one hundred and eighty-two. Six months—that’s what I was given. I needed to constantly remind myself of that in case I had forgotten so soon.It might not seem like much, but I knew better than to let time slip through my fingers. And judging by everything I had seen so far, this wouldn’t be a walk in the park.But I had to believe I could do it. Something inside me kept saying, “You’ve got
Mia's POVAt first, I liked it all because the first we had was the sweetest of its kind. Anyway, I haven’t had so many, and so there was no need to compare. Aside from the intercourse that brought Ramson—but at least I knew I did. But then, this pace, this energy he came with was uncalled for. Nothing about it felt spontaneous because, of course, too much of everything was bad and I haven’t exactly been a freak for sex.I pulled away gently, placing a hand against his chest. “Kraven… Let’s actually… make breakfast first, yeah?”His body barely stiffened for half a second. Then his features smoothed out like silk. “Alright, my co-chef. Pancakes it is. But you said you’re better off a spectator, and so I haven’t forgotten that.”He turned around and walked to the kitchen counter with a casual bounce in his step, but I didn’t miss the way his jaw tightened for a brief second. That was the real him peeking through—a heavy sign of something deeper before the mask slid back on.I stood the
Mia's POV"It's fine, dear." To my surprise, he actually bought the excuse I gave about the buzzing phone being spam. I had barely strung that lie together in a panic. It was indeed a weak save. Although that sound could only be a message notification, but then, I think maybe he wasn’t interested in arguing right now.Or let's assume he just didn’t care enough to question it.Still, I could feel his eyes linger on me a second longer than they should have, like he was trying to read between the lines. But I offered him a quick smile, and to my relief, he looked away.Could it be that he was more interested in this “surprise” he mentioned earlier than any other thing? Probably. Or maybe he just had his own internal clock ticking that didn’t allow room for confrontation. Either way, I knew that when eating with a devil, one needs a longer spoon.“Let’s get to the other room for what I have for you, and then to the kitchen,” he said casually, already walking away.I followed him, though